Well well well… here we are. Cross Country Nationals has come and gone, and the people look onto the many many laps in the Armory in their future. But, even if it is a little late (a lot late), we need to reflect on just how awesome Nationals was! From the Raps, the bonding with teammates at Bucca di Beppo, the triumphs and failures of waffle making, to the cooldowns after the races, there was a lot to be happy about. So let’s talk about it!
Setting up the tone for the day was the women’s Junior/Senior/Grad race. We had three entries into this race, and first up wasour secretary Alyson Ficca running a 26:56! Next up was Anna Winnicki, running a 44:47 and looking as happy as ever. Elizabeth Kokal rounded out our top three with a 45:18!
On the men’s side, we had six entries, just enough for a full team! First up was Nolan Enright placing in the top ten running 27:00. Nolan has been on a tear this season and we can’t wait to see what he brings to the table in track! Another person who’s improved their time from the start of the season, Gabriel Inojosa ran 29:09! Our treasurer Quinn Born was up next with a 30:11, a nice season PR before he heads to Australia next semester!President Cadyn Grafton was up next, showing that our governing officials can still boogie, running 30:52! Big-Handed Man Henry Hornbrook came in behind Cadyn with a 32:45! Track may be his preferred discipline but his love for running as a whole continues to shine through! Rounding out the men was Gabe Benson, with a34:28!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand now for the Championship Races! The women took 7th overall, a strong finish amongst a very talented field! Leading the way were
Diane Makovic and Joy Dudley, running 22:58 and 23:05 respectively! It is always good to see teammates working together, in crowded and long races it can be very helpful to have a teammate on your shoulder to motivate you! Claire Caisello was third for us today, running 24:07, wrapping up a great season! Suhani Peramanu was up next with a 24:43, she has continued to impress us all season in every race. Freshwoman Carlin Hass was up next with a 25:01, keep an eye out for her on the track! Up next was Anna Jablonski (TBJ) with a25:35! And rounding out our top 7 was Social Coordinator Bridget Brokaw with a 26:29! This group will be very exciting to watch in the spring, as it is a true mix of distance and mid-distance specialists!
And for the men, an 8th-place finish was bagged. Leading the way was Ethan Forsell, who got a very satisfying 25:56, he’s been looking for a sub-26 all season. Percy Moser was close behind at 26:15. Now folks, I haven’t told you yet, but this course was about 200m long, so as you’re looking through all these speedy times just remember that they’re faster than they say! So Percy was probably sub 26 through 8k as well! Easton Rosen came through at 26:37, a great time to round off his first season for the Illini! Adam Gorcyca (rumored to be the worst waffle maker in town!) also ran a26:37! Rounding out our top 5 was John Wiser, our fearless coach running himself a26:43. Another transfer, Kavin Prashaad ran 26:53 to wrap up a successful sophomore season. And last but not least, Spencer Nelson ran 27:39, showing that the “old dogs” still got it. This race was executed perfectly, with 5/7 getting PRs and everyone moving up many places throughout the race!
The last part of this lovely day was the Fresh/Soph races. These are always a blast to watch because it give a good look at what the future could look like for the club. While we had multiple Fresh/Soph runners competing in the varsity races, these still give us a chance to show off our depth. Leading the women was Annika Luthe, running26:42! Next up was Gender Minority Coordinator Anna Zlatic with a26:57, dipping under that 27:00 mark! Lia Tondeva came through the line next, running 27:32! Moira McKee was our fourth runner in this, running29:27! Allison Kokal rounded up our fresh/soph group at this meet, with an even 34:00!
The final race of the day was the men’s Fresh/Soph race, and let me tell you, these boys cooked. Many, many PRs were set and much fun was had. First up was Alexa Herrera with a performance Paul Vandersteen would be proud of, running 27:03 over the long course. Simon Hildy was up next with27:32 coming off an injury. Adam Lupatkin had himself a massive PR with a 27:35. James Stanley put a bookend on his first XC season with a27:52! Thomas Harmon rallied back for one more race this year with a27:57! Aidan Markiewicz also had a massive PR to cap off a breakout season, running28:30. Miles Maloney had a PR to set before letting loose in the 800 this spring, he ran28:48! Brendan Graven, our favorite de-facto townie also had a breakout performance running28:49! Jacob Duzan came back after having COVID running a 28:58! Aidan Farrell set himself a nice season PR with a 32:58! Jose Ocegueda-Zuniga showed that speed was on the grass today with a 33:17! And last but certainly not least was Akshay Belapurkar, wrapping up his first cross country season EVER with a34:37, taking over FIVE MINUTES off his first time this season!
We cannot finish this write-up without talking about the most important person to this whole trip: Laine Hackmann, our travel coordinator, has been working and stressing all year about how to get everyone to our meets, and she has done a phenomenal job. If we were in person right now, I’d ask for a round of applause. Maybe we could get one for her at the final board meeting. Thank you, Laine!
And to the seniors who may have run their last cross-country race, thank you for continuing to contribute to the sport of running. Your legacy will be carried on in club tradition, but don’t think you’re done quite yet because we still have track to worry about!
Good luck on the grass next year everyone! Now we hand it over to Adam Lupatkin to continue our coverage for track.
This is Nathaniel Lenning, 2023 IXC Webmaster signing off!